Shaun Pack

AI-enabled software. Venture growth. Community.

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

Empathy is a muscle; its power and utility grow through routine, discipline, and stress to the point of failure. #kaizen

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

Yes, enormous value in proprietary data sets and data-adjacent intelligence workflows. Google Workspace brought to AI-native firms. There's no reason to believe data will be structured in standardized ways between AI labs and their workflow ecosystems. Lockin will be significant. Will Google's models be strong enough to remain the default IDP/workspace for early/small firms? Will Microsoft retain it's positioning? And/or will we see Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI disrupt and dominate? Apple seems lost unless their hardware makes an iPhone-sized HCI leap.

[Claude @claudeai]

Starting to roll out today: Claude Whiteboards, Claude Sheets and Claude Data.

Think a plan through on a board, build a tracker in a sheet, and tell a story with your data.

[Mark Cuban @mcuban]

Actually it means that we have run out of time believing Ideology is a Strategy.

We have to take steps that are not based on slogans.

We have to drive down spending and drive up revenues with preparation, facts and realization that there things that can be done.

Remove regulation is not a strategy. More government is not a strategy.

The math is the math. We have to reduce the deficit and spending.

We need to raise taxes on the wealthy without diminishing investment that creates jobs,raises and improved productivity

Take the top tax bracket to 44 pct for earned income.

Increase the top corporate income taxes and add an AMT.

increase the min wage for any company with more than some threshold in sales and or ebitda, to $20, indexed by dma

Pay social security tax on earnings from 1m to 5m.

Require across the board spending reductions for all federal agencies of 1pct a year for the next 5 years

Increase the buy back tax to 4 pct for any public company that doesn't pay at least $25 an hour. Incest the money if you don't like it

Pass the break up big medicine bill. Check my timeline for all the other healthcare recommendations

Hate on this all you want.

IMO, The midterms were not a confirmation or rebuke of Dems or Republicans. It was a rebuke of the way we do politics and run this country.

We need to be honest. Transparent. And stop pushing ideology

[Smirkley @Smirkley]

Here is a quadrant chart using CNN’s exit poll. It shows what issues hurt Republicans, by how many voters called each issue crucial and how they voted. Cost of living (49%, D+34), corruption (55%, D+28), & Iran (34%, D+46) made people vote D. Only immigration (36%, R+15) helped Rs.

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

Must read for anyone in software 2026.

[Binance @binance]

https://t.co/sU9dUqLQDH

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

I hope my kids have a say in their governance when they are my age.

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

Think globally, act locally. Good advice in many domains.

[John D. Cook @JohnDCook]

Eliminating low-value work is better than automating it.

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

Coding is and always has been about the unambiguous codification of repeated intent. The only way coding goes away is if intent stops being repetitive. That seems unlikely given the propensity for humans to crave repetition, ritual, and stability.

Writing Typescript, Go or Rust or messing around with css variables or tailwind or stylex is now too low level for the the size of our ambitions.

But the English language itself is too vague to form the foundation of efficient intent codification. Just look to the Law (eg legalese) as an example of where this might lead.

I think we're in the early stages of collectively developing a high-level intent language, perhaps based loosely around English primitives.

The job of coders will continue to be, as it has always been, to understand the intent of some counterparty and to codify repeatable delivery.

But systems are flattening. It's not longer efficient to put coders in a dark room buffered by layers of account managers, designers, product managers, scrum masters, etc.

Instead, in the near term, coders will increasingly sit with counterparties directly and deliver in near real time using improved intent languages. This is the success of the relatively recent Forward Deployed Engineer role and companies that are delivering workflow builder tools.

In the medium term, everyone is a coder that's capable of codifying their own intent.

Therefore, master your intentions.

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

This has been a LONG time coming at the current pace of progress. For the sake of intellectual curiosity, would love to see a writeup of why changing from v24 to v26 as the default took almost 6 months after v26 was made current.

[Vercel Developers @vercel_dev]

Node.js 26 LTS is now available on Vercel.

▪︎ Default for all new projects
▪︎ HTTP/2 by default for built-in 𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑
▪︎ Temporal API for dates and time zones
▪︎ V8 14.6 JavaScript engine
https://t.co/d59k41Ya1i

[Vercel Developers @vercel_dev]

Node.js 26 LTS is now available on Vercel.

▪︎ Default for all new projects
▪︎ HTTP/2 by default for built-in 𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑
▪︎ Temporal API for dates and time zones
▪︎ V8 14.6 JavaScript engine
https://t.co/d59k41Ya1i

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

The urge to cast a vote to preserve a balance of power between polar extremes that also spend their energy preserving power, is itself a failure of democracy. Instead, vote for individual candidates who think and communicate in nuanced but clear ways, and whose policies are likely to permit the world you want to live in.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

My biggest concern is that if there is a clean sweep by Democrats of the House, Senate and Presidency in 2028, they will:

1. Make DC and Puerto Rico states to gain a strong majority in the Senate.

2. Open the borders and legalize everyone living in America illegally to cement a permanent majority.

3. Increase the size of the Supreme Court to gain an immediate majority.

This would result in America becoming a permanent one-party state and the end of democracy in any meaningful sense of the word.

All that is needed to ensure this doesn’t happen is 51 Republican senators in 2029. That is why you should vote for Republican senators this election. Other reasons are irrelevant compared to this one.

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

100%. Every video of the new device being used has people angled diagonally or hunched over to compensate. I don't understand this product feature.

[Noah Cat @Cartidise]

Steve Jobs in 2010: “Touch surfaces don’t wanna be vertical... it’s ergonomically terrible”

Apple in 2026: “...you’ll wanna reach out and touch it”

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

Lots of hilarity this week about the future of Bitcoin. Historically both currencies and technologies follow adoption and discontinuation curves. It seems indefensible to argue that BTC is immune to these dynamics It's not a matter of IF but WHEN, and I tend to agree with the analysis predicting major upheaval in the next 12 months.

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

Joined a call today with 150+ developers, hosted by an AI company that makes a lot of noise about AI, evals, and effective automation. The first 8 minutes were spent waiting for the human presenter who was late. The next 8 were spent with participants questioning gaps in workflows irrelevant to the content of the meeting.

I continue to hope AI helps us be rid of this noise so we can connect and collaborate in meaningful ways instead of this nonsense.

We have so far to go.

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

Grok with a genuinely hilarious roast based on current events.

[Grok @grok]

@grok_builder Grok Bot and OpenAI's Dot walk into a bar... bartender asks for names. Dot starts explaining its cloud computer. Grok just points at the neon sign outside that already redirects to him.

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

Each new tool I use is a risk vector for security issues, cognitive overhead, and unnecessary complexity. If I can easily do with Google Apps Scripts on a workspace account I already pay for, I'm not reaching for AI harnesses just cause it's fashionable. 90% of demos for personal assistants read like "send me a daily email of all my calendar events enriched with context details..."

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

Many of us got into writing software for the internet with the idea that utility could distribute to the capable. We missed the intermediary.

Utility distributes to the powerful and connected. Being capable is one of many paths to acquire power and network.

Hats off to those who play the game well.

[Peter Steinberger @steipete]

Do I know anyone at Google who could help? We're now over a week in review limbo for OpenClaw's Android app.

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

I love working with mission-driven leaders

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

Excited to see models like Jev join the toolkit.

[Shaun Pack @kaizenpack]

Automation overreach has invaded my @telsa over the last few months. Automated Emergency Braking (AEB) unnecessarily deploys in parking lot scenarios in jarring and dramatic ways to the bewilderment of other drivers; can't be turned off. Wiper blade settings reset from "off" to "auto" periodically (with software updates?) and then decide to wipe when I'm pulling into traffic on a sunny day with no visible obstruction. This is distracting and dangerous.

"Clean your cameras" is not the right answer when FSD is completely disabled and I'm in control of the vehicle.

I'm increasingly thinking it's too difficult for AI developers to deploy automation in tandem with human control, especially in critical applications.

Reasonable deployments include:
1) the human retains control and liability with subtle alerts and warnings from the AI
2) the AI asserts full control with human oversight and guidance

It's hard to tolerate the feeling of being in control and liable for mistakes, where a buggy AI can overrule me at any time.